


The Alpha

by loudspeakr



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Awkwardness, Boys In Cars, First Love, Fluff, Gen, High School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-06
Updated: 2016-10-06
Packaged: 2018-08-19 21:16:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8225006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loudspeakr/pseuds/loudspeakr
Summary: Rhett doesn't miss his car. Not one bit.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first submission for the Rhink Fall Ficathon 2k16 for the prompt "The Uninvited Guest". Inspired by a small collection of stories RandL has told us about their teenage years. And thanks to the ever-lovely [Sarah](http://heatgeneratingtechniques.tumblr.com) for beta-ing for me!

He almost regrets it, wrecking his car. 

It had been a sweet first ride, and it served its purpose well, giving Rhett his first taste of freedom and adulthood. For weeks, he would do nothing but drive it far away from home, spending whole days rolling through the hillside, all the way to the edge of town where ancient North Carolinian forests met with the fringe of civilisation.

But when that engine gave one last splutter, leaving him stranded in the middle of nowhere, Rhett knew their time together had come to an end. Cole wasn’t happy, of course. He made damned sure Rhett understood that when his little brother came home later than expected that night, sweaty and carless. After all, that car had been  _his_  first. 

Rhett dropped the Omega off at the junkyard the next day, a single tear tracking down his cheek as he said his goodbye – not that he’d admit as much to anyone else – and he hasn’t looked back since. The pick-up truck, where he sits now, came along a few months later. It makes him look cool and manly, especially when he rests his arm on the open window and leans back into the worn, scratchy seats. The cabin smells a little musty and the tyres might need replacing, but that’s all easy enough to ignore when you’ve got an October breeze whipping past your window at 45 miles per hour. Despite appearances, the old girl’s got some charm.

Today, the truck is parked just outside the Harnett County Fair. The fairgrounds themselves teem with market stalls and carnival games, an array of sights and sounds that only come to town a couple of times a year. Rhett takes in the view from behind the steering wheel, keeping an eye out for his girl, for Leslie – well, as best as he can through the scuffed windshield – feeling like some kind of king. 

A king in a pick-up truck, waiting for his queen. 

They’d talked about it, he and Link, and they concluded that the first time around – the first time he and Leslie dated – hadn’t counted for anything. Knocking knees under the table and nervous phone calls: they’d been children back then, inexperienced and downright mortifying. But they were sixteen now – real grown-ups – and this time they would do it right. So during one study period in the library, Rhett scribbled a note down and passed it, asking her out to the Fair, and a few minutes later, it was being passed back along a succession line of classmates, landing on his desk with a victorious flurry, a simple “yes” in response. 

Rhett had gotten especially spruced up for the occasion. His buzz was fresh, he wore his best t-shirt and sneakers, and he’d stolen – _borrowed_ – Cole’s bottle of aftershave, splashing himself profusely with it as he skipped out his bedroom door. Not that he really needed it, considering he didn’t have to shave, not yet anyway. And on the drive over, he might’ve needed to wind the windows all the way down to air himself out. But in the end, he figured, it would all be worth it: he would have the girl, and the truck was the way to do it.

A flurry of red catches Rhett’s eye, and when he turns to see, Leslie is a vision of perfection walking towards him in her crimson sundress.

Leslie and Rhett. There couldn’t be a more perfect combination of names, not a couple out of everyone he knew better suited to one another. On her arm was the oversized stuffed bear he’d won for her, shooting ten hoops in a row. It was easy work, being the star of his high school basketball team and everything, and the impressed crowd that eventually gathered around him had made him look like even more of a hero. 

Oddly, his date disappeared shortly after his triumph – he wasn’t too sure where she’d gone – but he knew they’d be leaving soon, having spent the majority of the morning and early afternoon browsing stalls together and trying out some of the games. So he went straight to the truck and stayed there, lounging about and fiddling with the broken radio while he waited.

Now Leslie makes a beeline for the driver’s side where Rhett sits. 

“Hey, baby.” Leaning through the window, Rhett tries to land a peck on her cheek, but she ducks at the last second. And it’s only now that Rhett can see the faint scowl on her face. “What’s wrong?” 

“Rhett,” she huffs, her arm tight around the stuffed bear’s neck. “Are you joking?” 

Quickly reassessing today’s events, Rhett comes up short. “’Course not – what’s goin’ on, Les?” 

At this, Leslie moves to the back of the truck, stepping with purpose, and reaches into the tray. As he’s being pulled up, there’s a sheepish look on Link’s face, scratching at his jaw, embarrassed. He swats her hand off of his collar and sits himself up. 

“I spent the entire day followin’ the two of you around, Rhett! This is meant to be _our_ date.” It’s Rhett’s turn to look sheepish. “Why’d he come with us?” 

“Because he had to drive,” is Rhett’s automatic response. Link really had been the best friend today, cheering the loudest when Rhett won the bear, probably having gathered the crowd to watch. It may have also been Link’s idea to steal the aftershave when Rhett was getting ready this morning. 

“But this is your car!” 

“Uh, actually,” Link pipes up now from where he sits hunched in the back. “It's mine.” 

“Seriously?” she deadpans, throwing her hands up in defeat. “Look, Amber’s taking me home, Rhett. I’ll see you back at school.” And with one last pointed look, Leslie walks away. 

Slumping back further into his seat, Rhett waves a hand at Link. “You can come out now, man.” The truck lurches as Link stands and jumps out from his hiding place, making his way to the driver’s side. Rhett slides over. “Well, that was a bust.” 

“Sorry, bo,” Link claps a hand on his friend’s knee. “I dunno what her problem was.” 

“’Neither.”

The two friends fall silent, watching their sleepy hometown come to life against the backdrop of a perfect fall day, warm sunlight shining through the dappled cloud cover.

It’s a good day despite everything, Rhett relents, as Link beside him reaches into the glovebox. His friend takes out a cloth and sets about cleaning, methodically wiping down the dashboard and polishing what he can of the steering wheel. The air in the cabin is palpable with pride, if the small smile on Link’s face is anything to go by. His glow reminds Rhett of his first day with his own car, how it felt to have something to call your own, something to care for and to treasure for as long as he could. The thought of his beloved shell of a car back at the junkyard has his heart aching just a little bit.

“You know,” Rhett says, nudging Link as he carefully adjusts the rear-view mirror. “I might’ve had the Omega, but you’ve got the alpha.”

Link’s answering grin is instant and bright. “That's terrible.”

“Maybe, but it’s true.” Peering through the windshield, Rhett shoots a smile back. “Hey, I bet the hoops aren’t too busy – maybe I could go win another bear?” 

Link’s already got the door open before Rhett can say _ready, set, go_.

**Author's Note:**

> Yay, another ficathon season!! So excited it's back cos it means new fics, both reading and writing them, and hopefully a few more authors to join the fold! It's going to be a blasty blast.
> 
> Anyway, I'm like Tinkerbell and Lady Gaga, so please lend me the strength to go on by leaving kudos and/or a comment! (I may or may not be delirious with exhaustion at the time of writing this here note, hence my terribly forward pandering. I do apologise.)
> 
> <3333


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